A truly serendipitous moment is captured in the photo above, which portrays Lincoln’s funeral procession as it passed the (Cornelius) Roosevelt Mansion at the SW corner 14th Street and Broadway. Cornelius Roosevelt (January 30, 1794 – July 17, 1871) was a New York businessman, and the grandfather of Teddy Roosevelt, who owned and lived in the building pictured to the left of the center in the photo.

As it turns out, this photo displays a 6-year-old Teddy and his brother Elliott (the father of Eleanor Roosevelt), peering out the second story window of the Roosevelt Mansion onto the procession. See ’em? If not, click here for a more illustrative photo. It’s just incredible that this moment in American history was actually caught on film, and I love when distinct eras of history collide unknowingly – this is a perfect example, kind of like a real life Jetsons Meet The Flintstones.

7 responses to “The Lincoln Funeral Procession – Union Square, 1865”

I’ve seen a shot that reputedly shows Adolf Hitler standing in a crowd looking joyful as the outbreak of the First World War is announced. Yeah, it’s weird when somebody who’s nobody (so far) is photographed anonymously. Yours is a particularly poignant example for so many reasons.

Eleanor and Franklin were in fact distant cousins…4th cousins, I believe. Sorry, I don’t have a link or fact sheet to back that up. I remember learning that, so I believe it’s true…and therefore, the photo statement is probably true. ;-)

Here’s a link with a brief bio of Eleanor: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/first-ladies/eleanorroosevelt. The American Experience show that profiled Eleanor also discussed it; I believe her uncle Teddy gave her away at her wedding, as both her parents had passed. I had previously not known Eleanor was actually more closely related to Teddy than Franklin!!

Regarding that photo. Actually it is more likely that it is Theodore standing with his then childhood playmate and future 2nd wife, Edith Carrow. He makes reference to watching the Lincoln funeral with Edith as children in his autobiography. Which makes this that much more of a remarkable photo in my opinion.

T.R. was the distant (5th) cousin of FDR. Eleanor Roosevelt was indeed Teddy’s niece. The daughter of his brother Elliot Roosevelt. Franklin’s father James Roosevelt was introduced to his mother Sara Delano at a party given by Theodore Roosevelt.

There are more interesting presidential facts about all the U.S. Presidents, including the 26th and 32nd at 10presidentialfacts.com as well as some good presidential biography recommendations.